brook

verb

1. (formal, transitive)To bear; endure; support; put up with; tolerate.

   “brook no refusal”

   “I will not brook any disobedience.”

   “I will brook no impertinence.”

   “how shall I brook to be the first cause of difference between a father and son, to whom the averted look and the harsh word have been hitherto unknown?”

   “But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.”

2. (transitive)To enjoy the use of; make use of; profit by; to use, enjoy, possess, or hold.

   “Yea, my Lord: how brooks your Grace the ayre, / After your late toſſing on the breaking Seas?”

   “The girl’s spirit would brook a husband under no such conditions: she was not minded to run forward because Pen chose to hold out the handkerchief, and her tone, in reply to Arthur, showed her determination to be independent.”

3. (obsolete, transitive)To earn; deserve.

noun

1. (Northeastern, US)A body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.

   “empties itself, as doth an inland brook / into the main of waters”

   “The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water.”

   “But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,[…].”

   “"Most of them don't wash. Those who do usually plunge their head into some brook or rill, if there happens to be one about."”

2. (Kent)A water meadow, or (in the plural) low, marshy ground.

name

1. A habitational surname from Middle English for someone living by a brook.
2. A surname from Hebrew, a transliteration and normalization of Hebrew ברך (barúkh, “blessed”).
3. A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Brooks.
4. A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage, variant of Brooke.
5. A town in Newton County, Indiana, United States.
6. A number of places in England:
7. A number of places in England:
8. A number of places in England:
9. A number of places in England:
10. A number of places in England:
11. A number of places in England:
12. A number of places in England:
13. A number of places in England:
14. A hamlet in Llanddowror community, Carmarthenshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN2609).